European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 21, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Traditional american nuns on the verge of extinction by Melinda Henneberger new Day the traditional american nuns who nursed the poor educated the outcast and shaped the face of the immigrant Catholic Church Are on the verge of extinction. Romanticized in the Beils of St Mary a and alternately credited with the successes and blamed for the neuroses of generations of Catholic schoolchildren nuns As they have been known have All but ceased to exist. In new York the ranks of Sisters have dropped by halt since the 1960s, leaving a dwindling number of aging nuns who face a serious financial crisis and an Uncertain future. A it s finished As it has existed said sister Ann Patrick Ware. 71, who lives in Manhattan and is a member of the order of the Sisters of Loretto Quot we re All leaping into the grave and that s the Sisters virtual disappearance from schools and hospitals has raised questions about the Catholic identity of Church institutions created a financial crisis As higher paid teachers and nurses Are hired to take their place and loft a vacuum of moral leadership that their replacements however dedicated find difficult to fill. Unseen assets such As Faith spirit and Grace Are not reflected in an annual report and there is a real sense even among the Sisters financial advisers that the viability of a religious order cannot be assessed on the same terms As any other business. The numbers however Are relentlessly discouraging Sisters in the new York area have a median age of 67 and a total shortfall of $977 million to fund their retirement needs according to the Tri conference retirement office a National Catholic fund raising group based in Washington d women s religious orders have suffered a far More precipitous drop in membership than the Priesthood in the archdiocese of new York and the diocese of Brooklyn and Queens the number of Sisters fell from 12,653 in 1961 to 6,382 in 1991. In the same period the number of priests dipped from 3,729 to 3,468. Quot we kid around and say take the last nun and stuff her and put her in the smithsonian a said sister Margaret Smyth of the Amityville dominicans pastor at St. John Cantius Parish in East new York Quot they re going to put me in a Only 21 novices prepared to enter the area s 160 religious orders last year Quot they always thought there would be this endless Supply of younger Sisters Quot to support the convents said Ware who criticized the Lack of direct Church support for Quot the women who worked like dogs and made $100 a As the Sisters collective income Falls and medical a costs continue to Rise some orders have been forced to curtail their unpaid or Low paid work among the poor. Many congregations have been forced to sell property while others have routinely delayed needed repairs on their convents and in some cases medical procedures Tor their sick and elderly. A growing number of Sisters Are supported by supplemental Security income and medicaid. John Tortolani a Westchester financial consultant said Between 25 and 30 of the 70 new York women s religious Mcaa team s map is a nubby Kay Bartlett the associated press she s been president of Trinity College in Washington d c., where she Hobnob bed with senators and congressmen and helped Host the Pope when he visited the capital. She graduated from College Magna cum laude and then added a , a Law degree and an mba but of All her awards she is proudest of a plaque on her Wall that names her As the most valuable player on Xavier University s highly touted basketball team. That s some accomplishment for a 59-year-old roman Catholic nun who stands just 5-feet-5 and never has scored More than 7 Points in a College basketball game meet sister Rose Ann Fleming s n d Den a teaching order headquartered in Belgium. Musketeer coach Pete Gillen never dreamed he would one Day make her the team s map when seven years ago she became academic adviser to the team Quot i thought she would be a fish out of water but i was wrong Quot Gillen says Quot nobody s in the same Ballpark with her Quot i was sure my Guys would Bettalo her i did no to think she could handle it working with those moot City kids was new to her Quot she got duped a Tew times and so did i. But i Host were kids who would lie Tike most people breathe you can t fool tier too often she a pretty Street smart Tor a religious Gillen Hud not Given out the map award since he came to Xavier in 1985 the coach says m s against his philosophy a them s an old saying the strength of tie Wolt is in the pack so we try to keep the pack More of less together rather than create Alpha wolves and Beta wolves Quot he says Why the exception ? Quot she s the one person we can t lose Gillen says. Quot we can lose a Byron Larkin a Jamal Walker a Tyrone Hill and somehow still be competitive but if we lost her we d be hurting. Quot she s irreplaceable. You can t get anyone to do what she does with her enthusiasm her Talent her intelligence her compassion Quot Given sister Fleming s Ivory Tower background one in which she proved to be a Good fund Raiser the Job of academic adviser to athletes seems at first an Odd Choice. Odder yet when sister Rose Ann As the players Call her concedes her real concerns Are first amendment issues As they pertain to private schools. That s Why she got her mba and Law degrees Gillen admires her Energy and her persistence. For instance one student was skipping classes and she knew it. Quot she rang his phone 64 limes and then Hung up for five seconds Quot he says. Quot she called Back and let it ring�5 More times. It was driving him crazy. He answered on the 129th the students then Learned to take the phones off the Hook so sister Fleming who gets up at 5 a m to jog three Miles each Day before attending morning mass simply switched strategy she started banging on their doors. Gillen was willing to Lake a risk to give sister Fleming the authority she needs. She has benching Power and i Don t know of Many other coaches who give that to academic Gillen says Quot she s Only had to use it a few times but word spreads quickly once in was during a Tournai on it was oar eighth or ninth Best player and she took him out for live or six games Quot tie says Quot that was in the beginning it it had been the Star ? same rules says Gilien one superstar who apparently did not write to Margaret Smyth of East new York says a a they re going to put me in a museum. A orders he works with have members on set. About half of the 33 members of one Manhattan based teaching order live on medicaid benefits that pay for their care in Public nursing Homes. The groups Superior asked that the order not be named because Quot some people done to think we re entitled a id rather not give them fuel. But we could t afford it the Amityville dominicans have Cut Back on food so they can continue to fund projects including work with local salvadoran women and their children Quot we re More conscious about simple meals Quot said sister Veronica Greeley Prioress of the order Quot so you done to have the Best of everything a maybe pasta Rice vegetables maybe one meat dish during the week Quot or maybe none at All. It s just not As lavish Quot the Sisters hard limes Are also affecting the people in the pews. A Quot Many Catholic parents now see no difference Between Catholic schools and Public schools Quot said James in papers or take tests in High school expected the same Perks at Xavier. He did nothing about a major paper for an introduction to philosophy class. When the paper was due the team was playing and he simply ignored it. But he did no to reckon with sister Fleming. She announced to the startled player just under 7 feet tall that he. Indeed was going to do the work. Sister Fleming who wears Street clothes save for a Large Cross on a Chain around her neck dragged him off to the Library and called in the resource librarian. Quot this player was realty very resistant to having to do any kind of intellectual work to get what was necessary to get the Grade Quot she recalls. Quot i was equally determined this was going to happen. And so we walked from Book to Book and we stayed there for a couple of Days literally from morning to night until the work was done i did t have to do that would that player today be employed by the National basketball association Quot i think i la pass on that Quot replies the discreet nun. Although sister Fleming is responsible for All Xavier athletes her focus is the basketball team the Money sport for this Small private University which has been in the Mcaa playoffs for the last five years. Sister Fleming goes on Road trips with the team sits in freezing Arenas while they practice turns out to watch them scrimmage she talks with them on the bus advises them on courses. Quot i can to make everyone want a 3.0 Grade average. But l can convince them that the eligibility rules of a 2.0 Are net doing them any favor when it comes time to get a Job. She says Quot i Tell them employers Are looking for Academe achievement and if they have that plus the publicity from being on the Xavier team they be got a Good shot Quot she feels that although they complain the players i the Secundy of the Structure she provides. Quot it s not too Cool to pull out a Book on quantitative analysis while you re at a big tournament but they be get me to blame it on Quot she says. Likoudis of the conservative Rochester n a based group catholics United for the Faith Quot and once the school goes because the religious left the Parish goes into Quot in natural terms its a dying institution Quot said Donna Steichen a Catholic writer whose recent Book ungodly rage the hidden face of Catholic feminism theorizes that the traditional religious Tife has been so changed that it has lost its meaning. Some Sisters said changes in religious life have made identification with the Catholic Church More cultural and less spiritual. Quot we Haven t Learned to compensate for the Lack of visibility and numbers we once had without a uniform or a habit Quot said sister Barbara o Dea provincial Superior of the daughters of Wisdom in Islip n a Quot if i look at my nieces and nephews children they really Don t know Church people very Well and they May or May not be in Church on the work of Sisters has changed radically in recent years As nuns moved in Masse out of the schools and hospitals and into new work with aids patients the homeless and battered women. In the decade that followed the second Vatican Council in the 1960s, when Sisters first ventured out into the world women left the religious life in droves. But today the Convent is primarily losing members to death few Are signing on to replace them the Sisters said because More options for women in the workplace and for Lay people in the Church have meant that women no longer have to join the Convent to pursue intellectual and professional opportunities a or a life of service to the Church. A Quot it s a difficult time to be a religious because it s counter cultural Quot said Joann Digangi principal at St. Anastasia elementary school in Douglaston Queens. Quot the kids say i want to grow up and have a boat you Don t Ever hear a kid say i want to grow up and live the life of St. Francis Quot sister Rose Ann Fleming has benching Powers Over the Xavier University basketball team. Page 14 the stars and stripes Ester Anne Marie who is in her 90s, leaves lunch at her walled Abbey in Yonkers n. Y. The Sisters of the blessed sacrament Are facing a financial crisis exacerbated by the Lack of new Sisters keep the Faith in hard times news Darby Melinda Henneberger new Day for nearly 80 years the Sisters of the blessed sacrament spent the Cool of the morning pouring baiter from a barrel sized mixing bowl onto a hot griddle in the bakery of their walled monastery in Yonkers n.y., producing 150,000 communion wafers a month for the faithful of the archdiocese of new York. But with the Sisters and their machinery growing older and harder to replace the ovens have been cold for More than a year. Quot we get older and the people get fewer Quot said sister Mary Veronica Kiley 65, who worked As a Cutter in the operation slicing 60 sheets of unleavened bread at a time with a Power Drill and salvaging the broken pieces with a Hanoi held press. Twenty one Sisters whose median age is 66, now live in the sprawling 19th-Century Abbey that once housed twice that number. Quot we stopped making hosts because the machinery is older too Quot said Kiley who wears her traditional White veil and modified Black habit Over a pair of stack running shoes Quot one Little thing goes off and you have to Call the machinist the electrician and the compressor without their traditional livelihood the nuns Are battling a financial crisis that is both complicated and mitigated by their spiritual commitment. Any new venture must be compatible with their chosen life work which is the veneration of the eucharist the cloistered Sisters leave their Convent Only to go to the doctor and. After a special dispensation to do the necessary shopping but the rigorous prayer schedule that limits their options is also the source of their strength in hard times there won 1 be any increase of novices entering the order in the future said sister Mary of the Rosary Ginnan 56 people Aren t really equipped for this kind of Hie there Are so Many options for women that Weron t available 40 or 50 years ago and the value of contemplative Llo is not Well understood in our society they think to re something m the history books All outward signs indicate that this May soon be so. Pointing to the waning of a Way of life but the Sisters Are accustomed to uncertainty and attuned to the unseen their Tail gives them the luxury of the truly Long View and the remaining Sisters work harder than Ever in the past year they doubled their fund raising Elt Orts. Sold 4,000 jars of homemade fruit Jelly and on an interim basis began distributing communion hosts made in bulk in a Rhode Island factory they be also doubled up on household chores m the Mammoth monastery where they said repairs have been routinely deferred As the Cost of Upkeep on their 5 acre property has continued to mount Quot everything was at a High polish we can t do that now Quot Kiley said and for the first time they have sought outside help. When the care of their elderly came to involve Quot More. Lifting than we could handle Quot Amman said they asked a group of dominicans of fake in and care for two of Ihen members and arc looking int further cooperative ventures among new York s six cloistered orders Quot Marykim ill has its own infirmary and the rest of us Are High arid dry. Said Amman. Quot to never really had a retirement system and health costs have gone up their order has received some financial assistance from the diocese and the National Tri conf Ronco retirement fund awarded them a $10,000 special assistance Grant this year to pay for an actuarial study and an adviser that the Sisters say has been Quot a godsend Quot John Tortolani a financial adviser who works exclusively with religious orders began by helping the Sisters find a tenant Lor the former girls Academy next door to the monastery that had been virtually unused since they were forced to close the school in 1975 that place teas been a Burden Quot Amman said being Able to lease the school is nothing shod of a Miracle Clatues of the semis once displayed in the school s classrooms Are stored in the monastery cellar now looking out the window of their Sun porch Al a Ruihle statue of the Virgin Mary on the school Lawn the or a Quot is say they know it is Only a matter of Lime before she ton will be uprooted As a ne/1 step toward solemn / in Quot Sisters said they May also be displaced As its Selling the monastery i sell with its peach Orchards Anil a Well tended gardens m favor of More modest accommodations saturday december 21, 1991 the stars and stripes Page 15
